BlackBerry Smartphones are under fire. They’re rapidly being left behind in a world where software rolls out faster, hardware is on a quarterly cycle not a yearly cycle (unless you’re Apple), and everyone seems to be passing them by. Here’s what they can do to stop it.

1. Get power management under control. The Bold 9700 is a return to the the legendary battery life of the Berries of yore, it goes days and weeks without charge, unlike the hours on my Storm 2 (I actually ground the battery to 0% on it yesterday). SuperApps are great, but if we’re going to be using the radio, the GPS, and the screen so frequently they need to expand the capacity of the battery and improve power management on both the hardware and software side.

2. Create interface guidelines that work. Currently I can download apps to my Storm 2 that simply do not work because of the screen/ball/trackpad mess of the hardware. It’s up to RIM to exert a little pressure on their developers to ensure that everything works across all of their handsets. This is the curse of a fragmented user-base – so they need to deal with it.

3. Device memory and application memory need a divorce. Stat. It’s insane that my Berry grinds to a halt when I’ve got more than a few apps running. It was particularly prevalent on the low-memory Storm, the Storm 2 solves it to a degree. Still, this is a paradigm that needs to take a hike.

4. Build a desktop BBM client. Sell if it you have to. Also – license it out to other smartphone manufacturers and charge an arm and a leg for it. Make the best experience on BlackBerry (That’s the Apple method – throw em a bone, but let them know the steak is on YOUR table) so that you can pull people to the (competitor) hardware/software ecosystem.

5. Engage some accessories developers to build some classy third party stuff. The official BlackBerry accessories are insanely awesome… but the cases are a bit boring and we don’t have nearly the number of iOptions that certain iCompetitors iHave. They need to put some thought into it too. Where’s my BB compatible XM SkyDock? My BB compatible speaker units? Etc, etc, etc.

6. Get BlackBerry 6 out the door early. If it’s not in open beta by June, they’ve failed. If RIM lets Apple get to market with next generation hardware and software it’s going to be a disaster. I don’t care if the team in Waterloo is working 24/7, they need that software in the wild. Stat.

The BlackBerry will prevail whether or not RIM executes on these points – but the likelihood that they’ll be relegated to the discount phone section of your local cellular store is high. Motorola has been there, hopefully RIM can learn from their mistakes.